10 random facts about me and running

I keep a list on the desktop of computer of blog post topics. Every time something pops into my head, I write it there, with the intention that I will someday write a post on it. I realized the other day that there are many weird and wonderful things on this list, and to be honest, none of them are worthy of their own post. Instead, I decided I’d round them up in a fun list of random facts about me and running.

Here they are, in no particular order:

When I was 17, I had surgery on my left foot to remove a bunion. I was told that my bunion was so bad, that if I didn’t get it operated on, I wouldn’t be able to walk by the time I was 30. Look at me now! 33 and about to do my second marathon! In your face, bunion!

These are not my feet, but they look a lot like this.

2. Whenever I see a cat while running, I always stop to pet it. I love cats. It doesn’t matter if I’m in the middle of an interval, I will always stop to say hello.

Me and my old cat Harley. She didn’t want to move to London, so she is living her golden years with a new family in Canada.

3. My running gear is almost exclusively Nike and I have never run a race in another brand of shoe in my life.

Not a stock image. These are just some of my shoes…

4. I still can’t sleep the night before a big race. I toss and turn and I have anxiety nightmares about my alarm not going off.

Not creepy at all…

5. I hate the way I look in nearly every running photo.

I mean… what even is this?

6. I have never run so hard that I’ve thrown up…

Sometimes you just gotta collapse in the grass after a tough 5K.

7. …BUT, I have done one beer mile. I did throw up. I think it was fun, but I can’t really remember.

8. I don’t see well in the dark so I used to avoid running in the early mornings or evenings because it scared me. I do a lot of running in the dark these days. It still scares me, but I’m getting over it.

You’ll see me coming in this ultra reflective gear!

9. Movies about running make me cry. I just watched Race and literally bawled my eyes out. I had to watch cute pig videos on YouTube for a while after until I got it together.

10. I mainly listen to 80s music while I run. I just can’t get enough Pat Benatar. The song All Fired Up is everything.